Where Chile meets Barbecue!

Hoisin Glazed Spare Ribs

Last week I had hankering for some ribs. But, I didn’t want barbecue because I do that all the time. I thought about doing ribs with red or green chile but I just wasn’t feeling it. I wanted something exotic with big flavors and something I’ve never tried before. Then I had an eatpiphany! Asian style ribs!!

Hoisin Glazed Ribs & Asian Salad

I’m absolutely fascinated with Asian foods and spices. Aside from teriyaki and sriracha sauces I really don’t know squat about Asian flavor profiles. Since my understanding is limited I have to rely on good recipes to teach me how to use them properly. Fortunately, I found a great recipe on the Weber Grill app that was just what I was looking for.Although this recipe calls for baby backs I decided to go rogue and use St. Louis Cut spare ribs. Yah, I’m a real culinary bad boy. Back to the ribs, I removed the membrane from the the bone side of the ribs, then gave them a light coating of canola oil and seasoned them with SPG.

Ribs Glazed with Hoisin Sauce

Since the flavor for these ribs was going to come from the sauce I didn’t want smoke them. So I filled my smoker with just plain charcoal, no additional wood chunks. This recipe would be perfect for a gas grill. The ribs cooked for 3 hours at 250-270º. I temped the ribs in several places between the bones, the thicker ribs temps were 190º, thinner ribs were 195º.

Mix all the ingredients in a sauce pot and simmer until well blended. Brush the ribs with sauce 20-30 minutes before removing them from the smoker. After removing the ribs allow them to rest for 10-15 minutes so the sauce can set up a bit. Cut the ribs apart then garnish with sesame seeds and scallions. Serve and enjoy!

Big O Platter of Asian Ribs

These ribs were everything ribs should be, rich, sticky an perfectly cooked. The sauce was amazing, the hoisin sauce had a really rich deep flavor with hints of honey, ginger and garlic. Once the ribs hit the table there was not a lot of talking going on, just chomping, chewing and finger licking. I made the right call on the charcoal, there was so much flavor in the sauce the smoke wasn’t missed or needed. The Hoisin Glazed Ribs were a huge success, they were delicious and I learned a little more about Asian flavor profile. Sounds like a win-win to me!